His visit to U.K. under scanner, summons issued to tour operator

A day after the police arrested seven accused in the J. Dey murder case, the motive behind the killing remains unknown. But senior police officials said on Tuesday that Chhota Rajan had told the main accused and Chhota Rajan gang shooter, Rohee Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya, about the motive.

“We cannot say anything right now as we are in the process of verifying claims.” Meanwhile, police have issued summons to the tour operator who facilitated the scribe's visit to United Kingdom from April 27 to May 5. Police have not been able to gather details about the tour.

When asked, Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy confirmed that the police had summoned the tour operator for recording his statement. “We need to gather information about Dey's visit to the U.K.,” he said.

Police want to know whether Dey moved there in a group or went on his own. Police are likely to interrogate the guide who accompanied them. “We don't know if he met anyone there,” a senior official said.

Dey wanted to visit Philippines

According to Dey's e-mails, being accessed by the police, he also wanted to visit Philippines. “He was in touch with a Philippines tourism official Sania Phillip for his visa work,” an official said. It is learnt that the police may investigate the reasons behind planning a visit to the country.

On the day when Dey was shot dead, he had couriered visa-related documents to a Philippines tourism officer in New Delhi, police said.

Mr. Roy declined to comment on the possible reasons behind the killing. He said that the police were verifying various claims and the information received from the e-mail account.

He said that as a part of collecting evidence, various teams of Crime Branch will visit the pilgrimage places visited by the accused after the killing. “Our teams will go there to collect evidence,” he said. Police will also record statements of people who came in contact with the accused.

Mr. Roy said the accused abandoned their bikes in Mumbai after the crime. “We have found the three bikes in Chembur, Dharavi and Andheri.”

The murder weapon was recovered from the house of Anil Waghmode in Andheri.

Police reiterated that Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) will be slapped on the accused.

In order to get more information about the possible intentions behind the killing, the police will also thoroughly scrutinise his international call records.